And I am not chewing on fake rubber bones!
The Bible gives us the entire story, just mixed up as Isaiah 28:9-13 tells us.
Isaiah 13:12 and Isaiah 24:6 are not past history, their context proves that.
More sticks to chase.
Revelation 6 tells us clearly - the kings and generals were hiding from Jesus. It's not my fault you have another agenda for the passage. There are metaphors all through Revelation - but this passage is clear. It's not a solar event. They're not calling out about the sun. They're calling out in horror at the SON!
It is your mistake to make the end a one big bang.
What a trite way to describe the long awaited hope?
Does 1 Cor 15 allow a ‘Millennium’
Let's see if we can find "the Millennium" in the rest of the New Testament descriptions of That Day. All such descriptions include metaphors - but the other New Testament verses are more straightforward metaphors than the Apocalyptic Symbolism of 200 BC to 200 AD that modern people REFUSE to acknowledge being a genre with its own language of symbols that must be learned before it can be understood. (Without understanding the genre it is like trying to interpret Morse Code by finding a sequence that sounds like a corresponding rock song and using those lyrics to ‘interpret’ the code! Except that ‘rock song’ is our own subjective view of the world and who are the ‘goodies’ and who are the ‘baddies’.
CORINTHIANS 15
1 Corinthians 15: 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Now some might see this ‘reigning until he has put all his enemies under his feet’ as the Millennium. But it’s actually talking about Jesus reigning now over history and the church. So far - this seems it MIGHT allow a literal “Millennium reign” of some sort - because the ‘last enemy to be destroyed is death’. Except just a few verses later Paul says…
1 Cor 15:50
“I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
Paul says death is defeated when Jesus returns. But when is that? Didn't he just say in verse 22 and 23 that it is when "In Christ all shall be made alive" ... "at his coming those who belong to Christ." Everyone coming alive is ‘death defeated’. The trumpet sounds, the dead are raised, Jesus returns, immortality starts, all in a flash!
So what do we make of 1 Cor 15:24? "Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power."
Paul is just quoting Psalm 110 to show that
this time Jesus WILL fulfil that Psalm! The dead being raised is part of God destroying all his enemies. It's answering the question of eschatological tension - why are God's people suffering now? When will the Messiah reign and put an end to prejudice and persecution? Jesus will reign and defeat all his enemies the moment he returns, at the last trumpet, along with death itself being defeated. All in one, in a flash! There's just no room for 1000 years here. (Also note the trumpet - that will come in handy later.)
Whereas: Gods Plan for the redemption of mankind, is a progression of steps to the final result.
As described in Revelation 21 to 22
Nope. It happens in a flash. 1 Cor 15 said so.
Please note: we are raised on last day - not first day of 1000 years:
We are judged straight away - not at the end of 1000 years!
JOHN 6:39 - see also 44, 54; 11:24
“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
We are raised at the last day. As we saw in 1 Cor 15 - that's also when death is defeated and ALL the Lord's enemies are destroyed by his reign.
John 12:49 - “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day”
Again - all the Lord's enemies are judged at the last day.
Matthew 13:39 - “The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Again - at the end of the age - it's Judgement Day. In Rev 20 the judgement happens after Jesus has been back 1000 years - here it happens the moment he returns.
2 THESSALONIANS 1:4
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you."
= This judgement is
eternal, and it happens when Jesus returns. Also - angels.
How do you possibly have Jesus return and rule for 1000 years and THEN it's Judgement Day? You just cannot insert 1000 years here?
"Like a thief" is also a problem for Millennialism
1 THESSALONIANS 4 & 5
“...For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. 5 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Again - death is defeated
when Jesus returns.
Again, the dead are judged -
when Jesus returns.
Again, like a thief,
not after we've all had 1000 years to think about it!
Those who have kept their faith in him and live 'in the day' are rewarded when Jesus returns.
But hang on - there are more 'like a thief' verses. Matthew 24 is a bit tricky - because Jesus is also answering about the end of the temple in AD 70. Note that the way Jesus describes that event. It's local, predictable, and escapable! Run away! Get out of Judea when you see the Romans coming!
But... that day is the opposite. It's universal - unpredictable - and inescapable! As Jesus said in Matthew 24 and 25, it will be just like in the days of Noah - with everyone saying “Peace, peace” and making plans for the future. Marrying and partying because “they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.” To drive the point home Jesus tells 5 more parables about sudden, unexpected disaster when someone returns:- the homeowner caught out by the thief, the wicked servant caught by the master, the the bridesmaids caught unprepared for the groom, the lazy investor caught being lazy, and finally....
MATTHEW 25
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left... Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world... ...41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Judgement Day happens when Jesus returns.
Eternity is ushered in when Jesus returns!
See - the real problem here? Where is the Millennium in the rest of the NT? It's just not there!
But boy - do all the verses above sound like the END of Revelation 20!
That is - when Jesus returns - it's Judgement Day - eternity - death defeated.
The New Heavens and new Earth are a problem for Millennialists.
2 Peter 3
9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”
Again, the day of the Lord comes like a thief. Surprise is just not a thing if he rules for 1000 years first. I'm not the sharpest tool in the box - but even I could figure out that one.
Again, we look forward to a new home where righteousness dwells or rules. But here's the added twist! Peter says the return of the Lord - like a thief - is also the New Heavens and New Earth! Wow!
Let's put it all together. All the verses above show that God's enemies are judged, sin is vanquished, death is defeated, we are raised forever - and now it's the New Heavens and New Earth. And it all arrives like a thief - and seems to happen in a flash - and ALSO involves the New Heavens and New Earth.
Basically the rest of the New Testament describes EVERYTHING we see at the END of Revelation 20 - and now even into Revelation 21. But it all happens when the Lord returns like a thief - so at the start of the 'so called Millennium'.
So we must be reading the Millennium wrong.
Also - where on earth does the Lord return to the earth in Revelation 20? I've been reading it for years - but it just doesn't happen? Are we ready to discuss what Revelation 20 actually means now?
